Musical instrument



Dec. 17, 1929. F. c. PESLlN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Feb. 16, 1927 INVENTOR Fkzo C. Pssuzv ATTORNE S Patented Dec. 17,1929

UNITED STATES orrrcia FRED o. PESLIN, or oAiitAnn, canisoama' MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Application filed Tebruary 16,4927. Serial No." 188,696.

provide an instrument that will add to thev harmony and augment the music produced by the ordinary harmonica.

The ordinary harmonica produces music in i one key only, commonly called the major key, there are no minor chords, no diminished nor augmented chords, neither are there any fifth, seventh or ninth chords, nor any equivalent chords. v

Therefore, since the harmonica is not capa' ble of producing anything but fundamental triads of which there are th'ree,-the tonic or fundamental, the dominant or leading, and the subdominant, it follows that any instrument that can produce these chords will be able to follow harmoniously any melody that the harmonica can create.

My invention not only provides chords that may be tuned to harmonize With any key of a any harmonica, but also furnishes a sound box to amplify the tones from the harmonica itself.

A further feature of my invention resides in the arrangement of the strings on the instrument so that the root tone of each chord 3 may be played separately and kept singing while the three strings of the proper chord are struck.

A further advantage is the fact that it is so constructed that a knowledge of music is not necessary to playit. An accompaniment may be played almost at once by an amateur. 1

An additional advantage resides in the arrangement of parts which provides an instru- 4o ment pleasing to the eye in appearance, sturdy and durable, yet light enough to handle with perfect ease and easy to hold and play.

The above recital constitutes the fundamental objects and advantages of my invention, which is more fully explained by a detailed reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: a Figure 1 is a plan view of the instrument, showing the string arrangement and the bar arrangement;

- Figure 2 is ase'ctional View on line 2-2 of Figure 1; f

"Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view on line 33 of Figure 1; r a

{Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing spring arrangement on chord bars and Figure Sis a fragmentary View showing an ordinary harmonicain position for play- 1ng.-

-Referring nowin detail to the drawings, the sound box is generally designated by the numeral 1, on which'are strung" seven strings numbered 2-34:'5-67 and 8, respectively. Fixed to the tail end of said sound box are pins 9 which hold the ends of the strings; The strings then pass up and over the end ofsaid sound box and are held a" sufficient distance away from the face of the box by bridge-like'structure 10. The strings then continue over the face of the sound box to another similar bridge-like structurell, where they impinge, and from which they pass onto posts generally designated 12, to

which they are suitably anchored, said posts being rotatably mounted in said sound box,

and provided with an upright squared portion 13,. adapted to receive a wrench for tuning each stringseparately. 1 i

The *face ofthe; sound box 1' is provided With'an aperture 14, designed to aid in sound amplification, anda slot 15 adapted to receive the back of an ordinary harmonica designatedFA. There is provided a'sound post 14 located above said aperture; 7

Fixe'dly mounted on the face of the sound box is a blockof suitable material generally designatedlti, which block carries bars 17- 18 and 19, rotatably mounted on one end as at 20'. Intermediate of the ends of said bars, the bar passes through a staple 21 and is held against the top of said staple by a helical spring 22 which surrounds the legs'of said staple. At the end of the bars there is provided a key 23. The edge of the bars that bear against the stringswhen the bars are depressed is provided with a notch or notches, as the case may be, as at 25 to clear the strings desired. Frets 24, properly spaced under the strings, give the combination of tones necessary to produce the chord desired.

It is readily observed from the foregoing that by depressing a particular bar certain strings are pressed against certain frets, which produce a certain chord.

For example, suppose the harmonica was made in the key of G, which unless otherwise stated can be assumed to be G major. There are, as before stated, only 3 triads necessary to harmonize with any melody the harmonica can produce.

In this case string 2 is tuned to G, string 3 is tuned to C, string 4 is tuned to A, and

be sounded.

FRED C. PESLIN.

string 5 is tuned to D. These strings would a provide the root tones for the triads formed by depressing the bars. These root tones, as in this case, are an octave lower than the chord tones, but this is unessential. String 6 is then tuned to G, string 7 to D, and string 8 to B. v

From an analysis of the foregoing it can be deduced that when no bars are depressed the fundamental or tonic chord is produced, the root tone used can be string 2, tone G, although tone D, string 5, could be used harmoniously.

WVhen bar 19 is depressed the strings 67 and 8 are so affected by the combination of frets and slots that the dominant chord is produced, and the root used in this case is the dominant or fifth tone of the scale which corresponds to string 5, tone D.

Bar 18 on depressing produces the subdominant chord whose root isthe fourth tone of the scale and the root tone used is string 3, tone C.

Bar 17 may be employed to produce any one of the several related chords that enter into harmonic progression.

The foregoing description pertains to only one model of my invention and since it is capable of refinement and modification, I understand I am entitled to such variations and modifications as do not depart from the spirit of the drawings, specification and appended claims.

I claim:

1. A musical instrument comprising a sound box having a slot for receiving an harmonica that produces music in one key only, strings stretched across the outer surface of the box, means for tuningthe strings, frets placed beneath certain of said strings and in predetermined positions, and depressible members disposed over the last named strings for pressing the latter down upon the frets in a predetermined manner that will cause chords to be sounded when the strings are strummed that will harmonize with the key of the harmonica.

2. A musical instrument comprising a box, strings stretched across the outside of the box, means for tuning the strings, frets disposed beneath certain'of said strings and 

